Steven Whittaker

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Steven Whittaker
Personal information
Full name	Steven Gordon Whittaker
Date of birth	June 16, 1984 (1984-06-16) (age 23)
Place of birth	Edinburgh, Scotland
Height	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position	Full back / Winger
Club information
Current club	Rangers
Number	28
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2001–2007 2007–	Hibernian Rangers	141 (4) 030 (4)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of May 25, 2008. * Appearances (Goals)

Steven Gordon Whittaker (born June 16, 1984 in Edinburgh, Scotland) is a Scottish professional footballer who currently plays for Rangers in the Scottish Premier League. He has played in a number of positions during his career but is currently being deployed as a right sided midfielder, having signed for Rangers as a right-back.

Contents 1 Club career 1.1 Hibernian 1.2 Rangers 2 Scotland career 3 Honours 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Club career

[edit] Hibernian

In 2001, Whittaker joined the likes of Kenny Miller and Derek Riordan in signing for Hibernian from Hutchison Vale Boys Club. He made his debut against St Johnstone in a 1-0 win on the May 12, 2002. The following season he went on to make another six top team appearances before finally become a regular starter the season after. Though with him lacking a defined position his form suffered as he was deployed at right-back or on either side of midfield under Bobby Williamson. However, he did score his first career goal during this poor spell, against Partick Thistle in a 3-2 win on January 3, 2004.^[1] He was an unused subsitutite when Hibernian lost the Scottish League Cup final in 2004.

The arrival of Tony Mowbray later that year saw Whittaker confirmed in the team's right-back role, and with this new certainty, he flourished, becoming a regular in the Scotland Under 21 team and helping Hibs to a third place league finish. He made 173 appearances for Hibs and scored five times.

[edit] Rangers

Whittaker completed a £2m move to Rangers on August 1, 2007, signing a five-year contract.^[2] On August 18, 2007, he started his first game for Rangers against Falkirk in the Scottish Premier League and marked his debut with the second goal in a 7-2 win for Rangers.^[3]

With the departure of Alan Hutton to Tottenham Hotspur, Whittaker is now seen as the first-choice right back at the club, having played in a number of positions since the summer. He played as a right winger, and has also filled in at left-back when Sasa Papac is unavailable.

Whittaker scored the second goal of Rangers 2-0 win over Sporting Lisbon in the Uefa Cup quarter final second leg.^[4] He picked the ball up on the half way line and weaved through several players before capping it off with a cool finish. He stated after the match that it was the best goal he had scored in his career.^[5]

[edit] Scotland career

In October 2006 Whittaker was brought into the Scotland squad for the European Football Championship qualifying match against Ukraine after the suspension of Christian Dailly following a yellow card in 1-0 win over France. Although he did not feature in the match.^[6]

Whittaker was called into the Scotland B side to face Republic of Ireland's B team on 20 November 2007.^[7] He played the first sixty-eight minutes but was replaced by Ross McCormack.^[8] He also played in the 0-0 draw in November 2006.^[9]

[edit] Honours

With Hibernian

• Scottish League Cup: 2006-07

With Rangers

• Scottish League Cup: 2007-08
• Scottish Cup: 2007-08

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Steven Whittaker career stats at Soccerbase

v • d • e Rangers F.C. – current squad 1 McGregor • 3 Weir • 4 Buffel • 5 Papac • 6 Ferguson • 7 Hemdani • 8 Thomson • 9 Boyd • 10 Novo • 11 Adam • 15 Gow • 16 G. Smith • 17 Burke • 18 Naismith • 19 Darcheville • 20 Beasley • 21 Broadfoot • 23 Dailly • 24 Cuéllar • 25 Alexander • 26 S. Smith • 27 McCulloch • 28 Whittaker • 29 Cousin • Manager: W. Smith